James Ball

James Ball finally reached the top spot at the Paralympics with pilot Steffan Lloyd as they came out on top in an all-British final for the Men’s B 100m time trial.

Ball finished second to teammate Neil Fachie in Tokyo but a stellar performance saw them eclipse their good friends to gold in Paris.

James Ball had high hopes of competing in athletics as a sprinter at London 2012 but those hopes were dashed by injury.

He persisted with athletics until a further string of injuries in 2015 left him distraught and unsure of his future.

The visually-impaired athlete switched sports after being spotted by British Cycling and quickly earned a spot on their World Class Performance Programme and was selected for the 2016 World Championship team where he picked up a bronze medal in the Tandem B Sprint.

James represented ParalympicsGB at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games where he finished fifth in the kilo with pilot Craig McClean.

In 2017 Ball was paired with Matt Rotherham and the pair claimed double gold at the World Championships in Los Angeles with victories in the kilo and sprint.

Further medals were gained – at both the world championships and the Commonwealth Games – in 2018, before Ball returned to the top step of the podium at the 2019 world championships, winning the kilo alongside Pete Mitchell.

In 2020 Ball teamed up with Lewis Stewart, and the partnership got off to a hugely promising start, winning sprint gold and kilo silver at the world championships in Milton. The duo raced to a silver medal at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games finishing behind world record breaking team-mates Neil Fachie and Matt Rotherham in the B1000m Time Trial.

Paris 2024 Paralympic Games

• B1000m Time Trial: Gold

Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games

• B1000m Time Trial: Silver

2020 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships, Milton (Canada)

• Gold, Sprint (piloted by Lewis Stewart)
• Silver, 1km time trial (piloted by Lewis Stewart)

2019 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships, Apeldoorn (Netherlands)

• Gold, 1km time trial (piloted by Pete Mitchell)
• Silver, Sprint (piloted by Pete Mitchell

2018 Commonwealth Games, Gold Coast (Australia)

• Silver, 1km time trial (piloted by Pete Mitchell)
• Silver, Sprint (piloted by Pete Mitchell)

2018 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)

• Silver, 1km time trial (piloted by Pete Mitchell)
• Bronze, Sprint (piloted by Pete Mitchell)

2017 UCI Para Cycling Track World Championships, Los Angeles

• Tandem B Sprint: Gold (piloted by Matt Rotherham)
• Tandem B Kilo: Gold (piloted by Matt Rotherham)

2016 UCI Para Cycling Track World Championships, Montichiari

• Tandem B Sprint: Bronze (piloted by Craig Maclean)